In Too Deep
by Sewer Slider
Summary: Sequel to 'It Had To Be Blue'. The former Purple Dragon is back and seeking revenge. But the stakes have been raised and there's more to the Dragons than meets the eye. . . Nominated in the 2005 Fanfic awards!
1. Chapter 1

**Author Notes: **Well here it is. Because you asked for it - the sequel to 'It Had To Be Blue'! And yes, if ya haven't read that, you'll have to check it out before ya get to this fic because otherwise it won't make sense.

To all those who have read 'Blue', for this fic I was forced to give the protagonist both a name and a gender. I considered a name and no gender but in the end, I knew I had to commit. At one point I was considering writing two stories at the same time, one as male and one as female, but gave the idea up. I have two chapter fics ongoing and a few one-shot bunnies boiling and I only have so much time!

I owe the fact that this sequel is up at all, let alone so soon, to Olafur. I had zero ideas for what might happen to the protagonist and it was his ideas that sparked the theme for this fic and his patience with my obvious plot holes and his suggestions for improvements that make it workable. He also beta'd this chapter. Thanks dude!

You can find further examples of Olafur's outstanding fanfictions by clicking onto my favourites list. Trust me, if ya like 'Blue' and 'In Too Deep', you will _love_ 'Redemption'. It's a seriously great fic!

As ever, my thanks to everyone who reviewed 'Blue' and to those who reviewed my last one-shot 'Only Words'. And an extra-special thanks to the person who nominated my fic 'Alone' as best one-shot of the year! I'm still choked about that!

I have only seen a few episodes of season 3 (thanks for that Jetix!) and because of this, have chosen that what happens in series 2 is what stands for this fic. In other words, although I have an idea of what's gone on in series 3 and 4, I don't feel that I know them well enough to base a fic on those happenings.

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**In Too Deep**

The empty beer can flew across the room and landed straight in the trash. Raph smirked. "Three points!"

"Lucky," grumbled Leo, whose own can had rebounded out when he had tried the same trick moments before, thanks mostly to my habit of not empying the trash until it was physically impossible to hammer anything else in there.

I laughed at them and snagged another beer from the mini cooler I kept in the living room for just these occasions. I'd been back in New York almost a whole month and since looking up the Turtles who'd saved my life when I was a member of the Purple Dragons - twice - we'd struck up something of a friendship. They'd been over to my new apartment a few times for a few beers, usually after they'd been out breaking up the gangfights and robberies that plagued the city. I'd expected that when I found them the first time and I gave my thanks for the oppertunity to start a new life, we'd catch up for a while and then I'd probably never see them again. Instead, we had fallen into something of a routine; they would turn up on my fire escape once or twice a week and stay for a couple of hours, maybe we'd watch a film or a game. One time Casey Jones had come along too, but he had felt safe enough using the main door. Although the safety had ended there. As soon as he picked up a beer, I made sure he stayed away from my TV. That guy is _lethal_ where electronics are concerned.

The topic of conversation was usually what we had been up to in the last few years, while I had been away from New York. They would tell me about the fights they had been in or people they had tangled with and I would in turn think back to some of the more amusing moments I had on the road or in Chicago. In spite of the easy way we could discuss that kinda thing, or shout at the TV, there were plenty of secrets between us. I had no idea where they lived, if they had any other family save the four of them, anything much about any of them save for what I observed by watching and listening to them. Sometimes I wondered if they were dropping in for the sole reason of keeping an eye on me and making sure I wasn't about to fall back into my old gang habits. They needn't have worried.

I had a few little secrets of my own.

Between swigs, I kept the beer resting on my arm, where there was a purple-black bruise up near my elbow. Cold is the best thing to rid oneself of bruises quickly. My shirt hid the mark from the two turtles currently making themselves at home on my couch, which was good. There might have been questions I couldn't answer. I'd got the bruise the night before, in a fight. Two guys fresh out of a bar had pulled a woman into an alley and one of them had been rooting through her bag while the other pinned her to a wall and spouted casual threats into her face.

They never saw me coming. I got the guy with the lady's bag on the back of his head with the chain I keep wrapped around my waist for just such late-night excursions as these. He grunted, dropped the bag and spilled the contents all over the alley, falling to his knees and leaning on his hands. I kicked him in the ribs and he fell onto his side, still conscious but no longer a threat to anyone. by this time, we had attracted the attention of his friend, who shoved the woman onto her butt and advanced on me. I unwound the chain from my hand and held it between two fists, waiting for him to make a mistake. He made a dive for me and I sidestepped, letting him stumble past me and elbowing him in the back of the neck. He was tougher than his friend and didn't fall, regaining his footing and aiming a punch that I blocked with my arm, hence the evil bruising the following night. I released one end of the chain and swung it low, catching him around the leg and yanking. He was too heavy for me to pull right off his feet, so, with a mental shrug, I kicked him in the balls. That got him down all right, sinking to his knees and cradling his wounded sack. I slammed my elbow down on his head as hard as I could and he passed right out.

I went over to check on the woman, giving the bag-rifler another kick to the ribs as he tried to get up. She had scrambled to her feet and gone after her bag, trying to retrieve loose change and make-up from the floor of the alley. When she heard my approach she gave up and backed away, almost falling onto her butt once more. I rolled my eyes. She was drunk. I should have guessed. She had made herself an easy target.

"Piece of advice, lady?" I glared at her. "Next time, get a cab home."

Nodding like a dog in the rear window of a car, she backed out of the alley without taking her eyes from me, turning to hurry as best she could on the ludicrous heels as soon as I was out of her sight. I could hear her tapping away and rolled my eyes again. Women and their stupid shoes. No wonder she hadn't been able to outrun them, not on however many cocktails and four inch heels.

The two guys I had run into didn't seem to be members of any gang, no street tattoos, none of the typical gang uniforms. I figured they were just oppertunists who has seen the woman rolling home alone and, fuelled on plenty of beer themselves, thought she was easy money. Hadn't figured on me being out on a Dragon hunt and noticing them.

"Beer me."

"Huh?" I glanced up at Raph, who was crumpling up his fourth empty can. Leo was on his second, I had just finished my third. I reached into the cooler, snagged another beer and threw it toward him. He caught it one handed.

"Show off," I said. "Hope it foams up in your face."

In response, he popped open the can with no foam. I flipped him the bird with a grin. Way back when I was in the Dragons, I thought he was the biggest asshole who walked the earth. When I got back to New York, I learned that yeah, he was an asshole, but he was a lot of other things too and the good usually outweighed the bad, if you got on his good side of course.

"You want one Blue?" I still tend to call Leo Blue, although I've just about managed to stop doing that to the others. It's kinda hard to think of a person by one name for so long and get used to calling them by another. I slip up sometimes, use Red or Purple or Orange when I address his brothers, but its Leo who most often gets the nickname I gave him before I learned what his real name was. And it's Leo who seems to mind his nickname the least, only occasionally pulling me up about it.

"Yeah, please." He caught the beer I lobbed in his direction carefully and with less flash than Raph. "Are you OK? You kinda blanked on us there for a moment."

"Uh, yeah, fine," I said, trying to think of an excuse. "I was just, uh, trying to work out if the liqueor store would still be open. I think we're running low."

"We brought some more around with us," pointed out Leo. "It's just not in the cooler, it's in the fridge."

"Guess I forgot," I said lamely.

Leo's shell-cell chose that moment to ring. _Saved by the bell _I thought in relief. There was no way I wanted the Turtles to find out what I'd been doing the nights I hadn't been here. I knew already they wouldn't approve. Hell, they didn't think I could take care of myself back when I was a Dragon and now they seemed to be set on the idea of me leading a normal life, away from the darker side of the New York streets, pointing out often how lucky Casey had been in his life not to get more seriously injured than he had been, how much April worried about him and all the reasons why they had been unwise to encourage him back then.

Leo flipped open the cell. "Hello? Oh, hey Mikey. No, we're at Sam's apartment. I dunno, hang on." Leo covered the mouthpiece of his shell-cell with one hand. "You mind if Mikey and Donnie come over?"

"Nah, as long as there's enough beer to see us through."

"It's OK Mikey, we'll see you in five." Leo pu tthe shell-cell away. "You sure you don't mind?"

"Nah." I grabbed myself another beer. "Keeps me occupied of a night."

"Yeah," said Raph, giving me a look over the top of his beer can. "What _do_ you do when we don't come over?"

"Uh. . . " I tried to buy for time by taking a huge swig of beer. "Just watch TV or sometimes I go out with the guys from the garage."

"Oh." Raph gave me a smirk. "Because we dropped by here yesterday and no one was home."

"Yeah. . . " I tried to look innocent. "The guys asked me out for a few beers and I got home pretty late."

A blatant lie. I had been out on the prowl for Purple Dragons and found the two thugs beating up the girl instead. Still, I wasn't gonna tell the Turtles where I had been the previous night. I had to think of something.

Five minutes or so later, I heard the window opening and in jumped Donnie and Mikey. Mikey grinned and threw a packet of peanuts at me. I had no idea why, but what the hell.

"Uh, thanks?"

"You're welcome!" Mikey helped himself to the contents of the cooler. "Whacha been doing? Anything interesting?"

"Nah, same old shit." _Work, home, beating up Purple Dragons, hanging out with four big green talking turtles - pretty much the same as ever_.

"What, nothing exciting?"

"Nope." I gave him a sideways look. It was odd that he didn't let the conversation just die. Did they suspect I was going out at night and beating up Dragons?

We hung out for a while and when they left, I was a bag of nerves. I knew they _couldn't_ stop me if I wanted to go out and beat up thugs, but I knew they would think it their duty to try. Best to just avoid the situation.

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I was in luck.

The garage where I work opens late on a Sunday, so I managed to sleep off the beers I drank with the Turtles the night before, and closes early so I could escape quickly. I went home, ate, napped on the couch for an hour or so and then, when it got dark, I went out. I wore dark clothes and wrapped the chain around my waist. If anyone stopped me, it might just be some kind of fashion statement rather than a potentially dangerous weapon.

For an hour or so I wandered Dragon turf but saw nothing more than a few kids hanging around. I was young when I fell in with the Dragons but this was ridiculous. They recruited the kids straight out of kindergarten, or so it seemed sometimes. Kids that young should be home at that time of night, not smoking outside seedy buildings with gang members. I know, I know. I was exactly the same. But I had to learn the hard way that the Dragons are not family. Hun's in charge and he thinks about himself and no one else, using the kids who are dumb enough to believe his line of bullshit about family and honour and trust.

I was beginning to think that I wasn't going to see any action at all that night. Irritably, I leant against a wall and lit a cigarette, blowing out smoke rings.I _hate_ when nothing happens. I'd been at the vigilante game for about three weeks and was beginning to learn that you don't just walk out the door and find thugs committing crimes. Sometimes you wait for hours and not a thing. Other times there seems to be more activity than one person can cope with.

Resigning myself to a quiet night, I relaxed a bit and looked up at the night sky. I love New York. I had to leave but I'm so glad to be back, the one place in the world I truly think of as home. . .

A yell made me choke on a lungful of smoke and drop the cigarette in a hurry, already heading in that direction, pulling the chain from around my waist ready. I know what trouble sounds like, believe me.

I ran, following the faint sounds of a scuffle to an alley a couple of blocks away. When I got there, I skidded to a stop, hardly able to believe what I was seeing. Did I think this was gonna be a quiet night? Boy, was I ever wrong!

The alley was between two apartment buildings, the end blocked off by a high wall. There were Purple Dragons everywhere, some kind of skirmish in progress. And in the thick of things, I could see the massive bulk of solid muscle that could only be Hun.

_Tonight is my lucky night._

There were so many of them, I couldn't see who they were fighting at first. When I laid eyes on him, he was just a relatively muscular guy with short dark hair and shades on, wearing a long trenchcoat. But he could fight like a demon. The only other guys I've ever seen who can fight like that are the Turtles. He was carrying what looked like a double light saber and for a moment I wondered how he managed to fight so well with a kids toy. He was a good fighter sure, but he was heavily outnumbered and there was no way for him to escape. Someone needed to even the odds.

I swung the chain around my head and leapt in, taking out a Dragon before he could even turn and see me. A second fell victim to a punch to the face. Another came at me with a pipe - I had their attention by that point - and I ducked out of the way, kicking him in the back of the knee to take him down and him down and slamming the back of his head with one chain-wrapped fist.

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw the guy in the trenchcoat give me a curious look as he knocked another Dragon flying, but I didn't really have the time for introductions right then.A swarm of Dragons broke off their attack on him and came after me. Too many of them for anything fancy, I swung the chain around, kicked and punched, took a couple of hits to my arm and ribs. But I was the better fighter and I'm not scared of playing dirty. Good thing too. I was heavily outnumbered and the Dragons were after blood. This wasn't the gang of kids that the Dragons recruit so many of. These were some of their best and I wondered what the guy had done to piss them off so badly.

The last Dragon after me fell, falling victim to the swing of my chain, a blow that had all the power I could muster behind it. He'd managed to smack me a good one with a length of wood and I wasn't pleased. No time to take stock of injuries though. The guy was clearly worn down by the battle and Hun was advancing on him. I don't think he even noticed, so intent was he on the Dragon he was currently doing battle with. With a yell of rage, I leapt on Hun's back and tightened the chain around his throat. Hun staggered backward, choking. I tightened the chain, pulling backward with all my strength and still he didn't go down. What the hell would it take to put this guy out?

I got my answer. The guy in the trenchcoat dispatched the Dragon, turned and saw Hun and attacked. Moving so fast he was almost a blur, he punched Hun in the face several times before giving him a spinning kick to the gut. I leapt aside as Hun fell, crashing heavily to the ground and not getting up again.

Man, I was impressed!

The remaining Dragons, the few that were still standing, weren't hanging around any longer. I turned and held my chain up in a threatening manner and they all turned tail and fled. I grinned. This is why I love being a vigilante. The adrenaline rush when you kick bad-guy ass is intense. Oh, and revenge of course. Had to get revenge for what was done to me. I'd be lying if I said it didn't feel great to beat the shit outta Hun. OK, so the trenchcoat guy was the one who did it, but I helped.

I turned to trenchcoat and looked him over. "You OK dude?"

"I am fine." He pressed a button on the light saber thingie and it stopped glowing. He shoved it into his belt, turned to face me and I blinked in total surprise when he made a half bow. "Thank you for your help," I noticed that even though the battle was over and the dude was all polite and everything, his body was all tense, ready in case I would try anything.

"No problem." I glanced down at Hun and kicked him in the ribs. He groaned but didn't get up. I didn't think that was going to last though. "Come on, we better get out of here. Wow, those Dragons were really going after you. What did you to to piss them off? Who are you? You can really fight, ya know that?"

He looked a bit taken aback by the questions - I can be talkative at times - but followed me out of the alley. "I am simply - a guardian."

"Guardian, huh? Who ya guarding?"

"My masters are, shall we say, no longer in the city. I remained behind to watch over their ancient enemy and ensure he does not attempt any further attacks on them. The Purple Dragons are in his employ."

"Ya mean, they're taking on assassination contracts now?"

"Not as such."

I was confused, but that's nothing new for me. He noticed my puzzlement and his stern features adjusted temporarily into an amused expression. "Just know, you have made an ally today. I thank you again."

"No worries." I glanced back toward the alley in case Hun had decided to get up and chase after us. "So, what do you think. . ."

He was gone.

I looked around, but there was no sign of him. I even looked up, like maybe he grew wings and flew away, but nope. I hadn't looked away for more than two sseconds and he had vanished.

I sighed, running my hand through my hair.

"Goddamn ninjas!"

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_Hun stormed around Dragon headquarters, barely able to believe that he'd been laid out. The damn job should have been an easy one, take down the Guardian and turn him over to the Master. the number of Dragons in the fight should have been enough to determine their advantage, but no, some goddamn vigilante had to stick his nose where it wasn't wanted and blow the whole thing for them._

_The kid had looked so familiar. . ._

_It wasn't Jones, that much he knew for sure. Jones was older, taller, wore that stupid hockey mask. The kid had been maybe 20 or so, longish dark hair tied back, wore nothing to hide his face. And the chain, that was more of a gang weapon than something a vigilante would carry.Maybe the kid belonged to a rival gang and hadn't been helping out the Guardian but hurting the Dragons instead._

_The disrespect was intolerable. _

_They should have had the Guardian that night, been able to hand him to the Master and get all his knowledge about the Utroms. The Guardians were tough, but he couldn't have held out against all those Dragons for much longer and certainly couldn't have stayed silent long when Hun started his 'interrogation'. And all it took was one dumb punk vigilante with a grudge against the Dragons to blow the plan all the way to hell._

_Why did that kid look so familiar?_

_Hun knew he should go to the Foot headquarters, but needed time to brace himself against his Master's anger. What he would really like was to work off his own anger by fighting, but any Dragon foolish enough to tangle with him would get killed and that was the last thing he needed. He settled instead for yelling at the Dragons who had screwed up for half an hour before giving in to the inevitable and going to leave the warehouse where they currently met._

_Dragon Face was just entering as Hun was leaving. Obviously, the second-in-command had heard of the failure because when he saw Hun, he stopped dead and gave a fake grin. Dragon Face was afraid of Hun, sure, but he would love to see him fail. He had been wanting control of the Dragons for a long time and he would never get it with Hun in the way._

_Hun glared at Dragon Face, willing him to make some kind of comment about the failure and give him an excuse to beat the stupid tattoo right off his face.But Dragon Face was only tough as long as he didn't have to fight anyone tougher than himself, nor did he have a death wish. Rather than engage Hun in conversation, he raised a hand in a half-greeting, the scars from the exploding shell-cell some five years or so back still standing out against the skin. . ._

_Exploding shell-cell._

_Hun suddenly realised why the kid had looked so familiar. Mentally he took about five years from the vigilantes age and tried to imagine him with different hair. Oh yeah. That was him._

_The kid had been a Dragon, one of the runaways they recruited from the streets on occasion. Tough little SOB too. Had all of them fooled. The kid had taken a bullet and been hauled back to the parents he had run from, yet had still gone back to the Dragons. Hun had seen potential in him, thinking that in a few years, he would be fit to hold an important place within the Dragons._

_Then something had happened, Dragon Face thinking he was going to run out on them. They had realised that all along, the kid had been working for the Turtle-freaks that had caused them so much trouble. The kid was under a death penalty but somehow the freaks had discovered the danger in time to save his ass. There had been no sign of him in the following weeks and they had all assumed he had skipped town. _

_What he had been up to in the past few years was unimportant. What mattered was that the kid seemed to be an ally of the Guardian they had been seeking as well as the freaks. If they found the kid, he could lead them to the Guardian and in turn, all the information about the Utroms he possessed. Like a way to get to their home world. The Master could hold a grudge for a long time and the Utroms were his ancient enemies. And if the kid knew how to find the freaks, well, so much the better. _

_"Dragon Face."_

_"Huh?"_

_"The kid, the one who was working for the Turtles. The one who escaped. What was his name?"_

_Dragon Face scowled and looked down at his hand in rememberance. "Sam."_

_"Last name?"_

_"Dunno. Never said."_

_"Sam." Hun thought about it. He wouldn't be able to chase him through the name, but vigilantes were nothing if not predictable. The kid would be around, trying to rid the streets of the Dragons. Then they could strike._

_Hun began to chuckle, malice in the noise. Sam huh? Little Sammy, back in New York City and looking for trouble._

_He'd give him trouble. If he had allied himself with the guardian, he was gonna get all the trouble he could handle._

_And then some._


	2. Chapter 2

**Author Note: **I have so many people to thank so bear with me! First off, thanks as always to Olafur who picked up on the stuff that wasn't quite right and is the most ardent supporter of 'Deep'. Special thanks go to Sassyblondexoxo for her nomintation for 'Blue' in the 2005 fanfic awards - it's good to know you liked it so much!

And a general thanks to all the people who voted for my fics in the 2005 fan fiction awards - 4 out of 6 of my fics are up for categories! I just got the list and knew that 'Alone' and 'Blue' had been nominated, but I was startled to find that 'Destiny' and this fic, 'Deep' are up for awards too! I'm so proud and happy, especially since I've only been writing Turtle fics for a few months now, since I think September. It means a lot to me.

I'll have the next chapter of 'Destiny' up tomorrow night, for those of you following it. Let me know what you thought of this chapter!

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Four days after the incident with the Dragons in the alley, Donnie called me at work and asked if we had any junk engine parts lying around. We always do, but on that occasion we had an engine block that was almost intact but none of us there had been able to repair it and it had just been going to the junkyard. Donnie practically begged me to rescue it and so I agreed, warning him the damn thing was a piece of crap.

"I'll take it home with me tonight and ya can pick it up whenever," I said casually. My boss let us take home anything that had been designated junk, thinking that we were honing our skills on the stuff. Yeah, right.

"Actually, can you drop it off at April's? I'm doing some work on her van."

"That old clunker?" I snorted. "Better just to put it out of its misery."

"_You_ wanna tell April that?"

"Uhhh. . . I'll drop it by about 6."

Donnie laughed. "Thought not. See you there!"

And that's how I came to be dragging an engine block out of the back of my car at about a quarter past 6 (I'm a lousy timekeeper), making my way through the shop, which was closed but the door had been left on a latch for me, and struggling my way up the stairs. The damn thing might have been junk but it was still heavy. I got up the first four and heard someone heading down. Peeking from behind it I saw Casey, baseball bat in hand and an irate look on his face. For a brief moment, I thought he had mistaken me for an intruder.

"Hey Case! It's just me, watch it with that thing!"

He didn't even acknowledge me, just squeezed past, muttering to himself. ". . .That's the rats problem and stupid women don't even. . ."

I glared after him as he headed down the stairs. "Thanks for the assiss Case," I yelled sarcastically at him. I made my way up the stairs with the stupid heavy engine block, working out what Casey had meant. Sounded like they had a rodent problem and April was scared. I couldn't imagine her stnding on a chair and screaming like a housewife in an old cartoon, but it'd be kinda funny if she was. I assumed he was going into the basement for traps or poison or something. And the bat? Hey, it's Casey we're talking about. He'd probably been chasing them around with it.

The door was ajar and I opened it with my foot, carrying the engine block with almost-dead arms. "Hey guys, a little help here?"

Leo appeared out of the corner of my eye and helped me carry the engine block over to the kitchen table. We were about to lay it down when I heard April's voice. "Oh no you don't! You're not putting that thing on my table until I put down some newspaper."

She fussed around laying down newspaper while we stood there with the engine block balanced between us, rolling our eyes at each other. As soon as she finished, we dumped it on there and I tried to shake some feeling back into my arms.

"Hey April, heard ya got a rat problem," I said, glaring at the engine block that had caused us so much trouble. "Ya know, I heard that if ya put the poison in the chocolate instead of cheese, there's more chance of killing the little. . ."

I saw Leo's frantic gesturing out of the corner of my eye and turned in puzzlement, taking my first proper look at the room. I'd already noticed Donnie and Raph sitting on the couch, Mikey perched on the arm but hadn't paid much attention, too focused on the engine block. Now they all wore expressions of mixed amusement and horror. There was a chair in the room that faced away from the door and now I realised it had an occupant. A grey - rodent? - four foot tall, wearing a robe and resting a walking stick on - its? - knees.

"I find that chocolate gives me heartburn," it said in an unmistakably male voice, the look on his face simultaniously stern and amused.

I gaped at him, open-mouthed with shock. During my time on the streets, between leaving New York and getting a place in Chicago, I spent more than a few nights sleeping in alleys and many meals had come from a dumpster and as any homeless kid would tell you, the rats were the bane of that existence. Scurrying over your legs as you slept, snapping at you for custody of half a burger, emerging from corners you thought might offer refuge from the cold or rain and staking their territory - rats, I learned to hate the rats. And this was definately a rat. A very large, talking rat.

Suddenly aware of Mike sniggering quietly behind me, I closed my mouth and tried to think of something to say. "Uh. . .I, uh. . .hi?"

Blue cleared his throat. "Master Splinter, this is Sam, the guy we were telling you about? Sam, this is our Sensei, Master Splinter."

He bowed from his sitting position. "I am pleased to make your aquaintance, young man."

"Uh, yeah, same here." I tried a semblance of a smile but I doubt it looked very convincing. The deep-seated loathing of rats I had picked up on the streets was kicking in with a vengance.

Splinter seemed to understand my hesitation because he gave me a knowing smile. Slightly embarrassed - I mean, if I can get used to the idea of giant turtles, why not a giant rat? - I cleared my throat and turned my attention to the turtles and April. Blue seemed mildly disapproving, Raph and Mikey were hiding smirks and Donnie hadn't even noticed, intent on examining the engine block.

"What's Case so worked up about?" I asked the question as a distraction more than anything else - Casey was always worked up about something.

"The usual." Donnie checked out the engine block absently. "Lost an argument with April about what to watch on TV."

"Splinter and I arranged this days ago," replied April defensively. "He needs a break from you four!"

I shook my head in disbelief. Even if your family consists of four turtles, a rat, a vigilante and a redhead with an attitude problem, you'll still argue over what to watch on the tube. "Hey Don, if you decide you can't fix that engine, I'm gonna kill ya. Do ya know how damn heavy it is?"

"I can fix it." Don turned and left the engine block on the table. "But I'll do it tomorrow."

"What? You want to leave that thing on my kitchen table all night! No way mister!" April folded her arms and attempted to look intimidating. The rat, Splinter, sniggered.

"I'm gonna split," I announced, before she could ask me to move it again. "Later guys. Good ta meecha Master Splinter."

There was a chorus of goodbyes from the group as I made my escape down the stairs. Damn, I was restless! I didn't want to stay home and the Turtles hadn't mentioned coming over. Nor did I want to hit a bar with the guys from the garage. Which left me with one option - fortunately for me, it was the one thing I felt like doing.

I got home, ate a packet of noodles, changed my clothes, grabbed my chain and headed out, toward Dragon turf.

The streets were the usual mess of wannabe kids, hanging around smoking cigarettes and swapping beers, others in their mid to late teens lurking in the shadows awaiting their oppertunity to cause trouble. The serious gang members were out of sight, the people unlucky enough to live in this neighbourhood and not be a member of the 'family' locked in their apartments before dark. Show no fear and walk with a purpose and the vultures tend to leave you alone. They assume you're one of them. Then you can hunt out the real trouble. I'm anonymous looking enough so that I could be one of them. Hell, I used to be. When I beat on them, I could be anyone. It's always dark and like I said, there's nothing about me that stands out.

The fringes of Dragon turf is where the most trouble happens. The centre, everyone knows what the score is and if you're not a Dragon, you don't get that far after dark. But if you wander onto their turf without realising, or if they're off their patch trying to gain some cash or enhance their rep, that's when things can get ugly.

The first thing I saw that night was two dragons who were all of about sixteen hassling some old guy for his wallet. The old guy was wheezing and looked terrified and I decided to step in. Rather than take out the chain and knock the kids out, especially out in full view of the street, I stepped quietly up behind them and grabbed a handful of each kids hair, smacking their heads together. They both went down, groaning and I indicated for the guy to get the hell away from there with a quick jerk of my head. He took the hint and hobbled away as fast as his artheritic legs could carry him. I thought about roughing the kids up some more, teach them a lesson, but a couple of teenagers already down after nothing more than a tap didn't seem like a fair fight. The wannabes who thought gang life was glamerous weren't the real scourge of the streets. besides, I was pretty exposed out on the street, although I didn't see anybody walking around there were a lot of apartments nearby.

I ducked out of the street and down an alley, heading toward the commercial area. There were shops and clubs down there, more than once I'd found something going on there. Helluva big area though, even if something was going down that night there was no guarantee I'd run into it. Still, there was always hope.

That night though, I felt on edge. A couple of times I wondered if I should quit for the night - being nervy isn't a good thing when you finally get into a fight - but stubborn pride made me stay. If I let some groundless worry chase me away now, would it happen again the next time?

About half an hour after I laid out the two kids, I heard a scream from nearby and smirked. Sounded like some one was playing my song. I followed the sound, emerging from an alley into a quiet, deserted street, momentarily confused as to where the sound might have come from - then I heard another scream, coming from across the road and down another alley. I ran that way, heading into the mouth of the alley.

Not the typical scene I tend to find, but not unusual either. There was a girl lying on the floor on her side, one arm raised to sheild her face. Three Dragonsstood over her, no weapons in sight, jeering. They hadn't seen me and I took the oppertunity to slide the chain from around my waist, whipping it at them and taking down the first guy with a nasty blow to the head, catching the guy next to him with a glancing hit as it continued swinging around. He stumbled into the third guy, clutching his cheek and moaning, both of them off balance and I narrowed the space between us, whirling the chain again and smacking the third guy in the ribs. As he fell against the wall, the second guy rushed me and I got him with a left-hook that I barely had to swing - his own forward momentum carried him onto my fist and down he went. I walked forward, wrapping the chain around my hand, kicking the only guy left standing in the knee and grinning at his howl of pain. But for the most part, I was worried about the girl. In my experience, as soon as the thugs are distracted, the victims want to know what's happening, get up and try to run, or just gape at the scene. This girl was lying on the floor, not moving. I didn't see any blood or anything, but the lighting and the angle were bad and she might be really hurt.

"Hey, you OK?" I reached her and looked down. She didn't move, didn't answer, just lay there on her side with her arm covering her face. Damn. I couldn't take off and leave her there.

"Come on, we gotta get ya outta here." I got to one knee, checking behind me to make sure the Dragons were still down before glancing down at the girl. And all at once, three things occured to me.

I'd _never_ known the Dragons to go down as easily as the ones I'd faced that night.

The feeling of wrongness that had been with me since the two kids and the old guy had just got a hell of a lot worse.

And the girl had begun to move as soon as I knelt down, rolling onto her back with a wide grin on her face.

_Oh shit!_

I managed to raise a hand to my face while trying to get back to my feet, but I had my moment of realisation too late and only had one side of my face protected when she unloaded a can of pepper spray from close range.

Immediately, my left eye began to stream with tears, feeling like she'd set the damn thing on fire. My vision blurred and went. I forgot about the Dragons, where I was and everything else as I propelled myself away from her and staggered backward against a wall, rubbing at it with my left hand. I managed to retain enough awareness to keep my right hand away from it - it was covered in the spray and could only make things worse. I had some slight vision thanks to protecting the right eye with my hand but it was watering in sympathy. And the damn spray had got up my nose and I was gasping to breath.

From the mouth of the alley, I heard sniggering.

_Ambush, it's a fucking ambush. . ._

Blinking, I managed to clear the vision in my right eye and saw the girl advancing on me with the can raised, clearly intending to finish blinding me before the other Dragons attacked. I shook out a length of the chain wrapped around my left hand and swung it, my poor vision meaning that I missed her but hit the can, which bounced out of her hand and rolled away into the alley. She stopped, staring off after it and I took the chance to look down the alley, where I had heard the laughter from. The figures of the thugs blurred into each other, but I could make out that the mouth of the alley was blocked completely. If I were to get out, they would have to clear a gap and that would mean luring them closer and then getting past them without being taken down. I was under no illusions about how long I'd last with one good eye and outnumbered by maybe 20 to one. Hell, even thinking I could get away was optimistic.

But, as some green friends of mine like to say, if I was going down then I was going down fighting.

I lashed out with the chain again, catching the closest Dragon in the face and breaking his nose, blood pouring from his face in an amazing gout. At the same time I sensed someone behind me and shot my elbow backward. The girl who attacked me with the spray caught it in the gut and gave a groan as I knocked the wind out of her.

The other Dragons raced forward and I readied myself for them, knowing that this was for keeps, a fight 'til the finish - well, my finish. No way I could dispatch all of them and it was unlikely I could take even a few of them down before they overwhelmed me. The only chance was to get away if I could.

The chain caught another Dragon in the temple and he staggered, but I was already dodging a pipe weilded by another. The end sraped across my arm but didn't do much damage. I spun around and managed to get a kick into his thigh, my depth perception still poor through my temporarily blind eye. A third grabbed my wrist and stopped me swinging the chain again, so I aimed a punch at his face, catching him in the throat and driving him backward, giving me the chance to pull away. I whirled the chain around, catching a couple more Dragons, and looked around for some kind of escape route. No go. The only way I was getting anywhere was by going through the Dragons.

I charged, whipping the chain wildly, my free hand snapping of punches as they tried to grab at me. I took a blow to the ribs with a pipe and stumbled sideways, straight into the grip of one of the Dragons. He grabbed my arm and twisted it up my back, the weak arm I was shot in some years ago when I was one of them. A moment later, the cahin was pulled out of my grasp. Immediately after that, another Dragon stepped forward and punched me in the gut. I doubled over as best I could while in the grip of the other guy, wheezing and coughing. My vision still wasn't cleared and all I could see as I looked at the floor was the can of pepper spray that had got me into this mess in the first place, in the spot where it had come to rest. When I recovered I straightened upslightly and saw the puncher with a gun in his hand, aimed straight at my face.

"Got ya now, shithead," he said with a grin. "Any trouble and I'll turn ya face into a crater."

I stoped struggling and glared. I've never been a big fan of guns, not having been shot. Especially not when they're pointing at me. I knew this wasn't going to end well no matter what and the gun narrowed down my options. There was only one thing I could think of to do.

I let myself go limp, startling the guy holding me and freeing me from his grip. I hit the floor with both knees,grabbed the can and brought my hand up before the gunman could alter his aim. With a feeling of poetic justice, I sprayed him in the face, the other hand making a clumsy chop at his wrist and knocking the gun from his grip.

The gunman staggered backwards, blind, and I threw myself across the alley floor, dodging the grip of another Dragon and getting a glancing kick in the shoulder. As the gun hit the floor, I grabbed it and rolled onto my back, aiming it into the air and firing off a shot. As one, the Dragons stopped moving.

I kept the gun raised as I got to my feet, ironically glad for all the shooting lessons I got as a member of the Dragons. I was beat up and could hardly see, but at least now I had an equaliser.

I risked a glance over my shoulder and saw the path out of the alley was clear - they had crowded closer when they thought I was captive - so I backed out, never lowering the gun for a moment. So far, so good. But how the hell was I supposed to get off Dragon turf? No way could I walk backwards with a gun until I found a cab. And if they decided to take their chances, I wasn't sure I could shoot any of them and certainly not all of them before they took me down.

When the answer came, it hit me in the butt.

There was a car just outside the alley, door open, keys in the ignition. Apparently, the Dragons had been planning to take me for a little ride. I backed right into it, glanced down and realised I had just found my way out of the situation. Quickly, I jumped into the drivers side, slammed the door and locked it, turning the keys and gratefully hearing it roar into immediate life.

A cracking noise to my side told me the Dragons had taken their chance, the need for me to lower the gun their sign to rush in. The window fractured beneath the blow of a pipe and I trod heavily on the accelerator. As I did, the passenger side door was wrenched open - I hadn't thought to lock it. A Dragon half-threw himself inside as I put the car in drive and screamed down the street. he kept his grip, legs kicking, trying to reach the handbrake. Trying to watch the road through my good eye, I punched out at him, felt the skin around my knuckles split as I hit him a good one in the forehead. He reeled and fell out, the passenger door swinging wildly until I rounded a corner without breaking, gravity slamming it shut.

I eased up on the accelerator slightly, rubbing at my blind eye with the heel of my hand. I didn't think I was in any condition to be driving, but if I ditched the car when I got off Dragon turf, I could walk the rest of the way or maybe splash out on a cab - I was running on adrenalin then, but I knew once that wore off all the injuries I had would be singing and walking anywhere would be a chore. The important thing was that I was away from there and safe.

I heard the screech of tyres somewhere behind me and I glanced in the mirror. A set of headlights were blinding the one working eye that I had and bearing down on me fast - too fast. I was about to get rammed.

_Damn Dragons, why don't they just give up?_

I i stamped on the accelerator, knowing it wasn't going to help, I couldn't get out of the way in time. When the car in pursuit hit the back bumper, my car swerved into the other lane, out of control. I fought with the steering wheel, trying to regain control without losing too much speed. By the time I got the car straight, the dude behind me was gunning for another bump and I swerved again, on purpose this time, doing 95 on the wrong side of the road and sending out a quick prayer to whomever might be listening that nothing came in the other direction. Behind me, the car changed lanes at high speed and clipped the corner of the rear bumper, sending me into a wild spin. I must have gone around four or five times before the side of the car hit a lamppost and came to an abrupt stop, the back door crumpled in. The engine hadn't even stalled and I stood on the accelerator again, the car shooting forward. I shot past the car that had rammed me as it was slowing and immediately the driver changed his mind, taking up the chase once again. I knew I couldn't keep this up much longer. I was half-blind, beat up, the car had already been smashed into one obstacle and I knew the next one might kill me.

All things considered, it hadn't been one of my better nights.

The other car was catching up to me fast and I took another corner at speed, almost colliding with a van coming in the other direction. A big green van that looked armoured.

_Oh no. Busted._

I couldn't have said for sure, what with my eye and everything, but it looked like the van the Turtles drove around in. Don's pride and joy, the machine that Casey drove through the door of a Dragon warehouse one night with me in the passenger seat. They were heading through Dragon turf, to look for trouble perhaps or as a shortcut home, I had no idea. The point was, they had warned me time and again about going after the Dragons and here I was, in major trouble. All I could hope for was that they didn't see who was driving the car - it wasn't mine and there was no reason for them to think I was anywhere but home.

The car chasing me rounded the corner like the car in the horror film and forced me to up my speed still more. No cops in this neighbourhood, not at this time of night.And a moment later, behind the car, another set of headlights appeared. The Battleshell.

Gritting my teeth, I took my eye off the road for a second, glancing into the mirror, knowing even as I did it that i was asking for trouble. The Battleshell surged forward, ramming the other car and sending it careening into the other lane, away from me. The driver fought for control, ploughed through a trashcan at the side of the road and braking hard. The Battleshell aimed for it and I took my chance, taking another corner too sharply and losing sight of the other vehicles. I slowed to about 80 and kept glancing in the mirror to see if I was being followed, but the road behind me remained clear. Nothing was coming after me.

I got off Dragon turf a few minutes later and finally dared to slow to the speed limit as I joined the somewhat busier streets away from gang turf. The adrenalin buzz began to wear off and suddenly I was exhausted, ditching the car closer to home than I would have liked - a glance in the rearview mirror convinced me that I was far too conspicuous to hope to pass unnoticed after the fight I had been in that night. Instead I walked the distance to my apartment, dragged my carcass into the shower and checked out my injuries. Not too bad, although the bruises were pretty numerous and colourful, there was nothing especially debilitating.

I had some major questions though. What was with the ambush? They had never gone that far when Casey was the only vigilante in town. And the way they had gone about it was too well thought out for them, getting my attention with the kids and springing a trap. Surely one guy couldn't be worth all the trouble they had gone to.

Unless. . . maybe they thought I had something to do with that guy I helped out couple of nights ago. What did he say he was again? A guardian of some sort? They had been after him the night I ran into him. Whatever they wanted from him, they had been determined to get it - even Hun had been in on the action. At least he hadn't been there tonight. Maybe they didn't think I'd prove to be as tough as him. That was quite depressing actually.

And there was the other matter. The turtles had showed up and saved my ass. Again. Had they known I was in trouble or was it just a coincidence, them seeing a car being chased and deciding to help out?

I guessed I'd know soon enough.


	3. Chapter 3

**Author Note: **Hey guys! May I wish ya all a happy new year! Have a good one!

And there are a few thanks to go out this chapter. Thanks as always to Olafur, who checked the chapter before I put it up. And an extra-mega-special thanks to the people who nominated 'Blue' for no less than _five_ fan fiction awards! They were: best OC, best Leonardo scene, best action/adventure, best moral and most accurate portrayal of characters. Overall, I was nominated for 9, which is a hell of an honour considering the fabulous talent that made up the list - I'm so pleased that people enjoy my stuff as much as I enjoyed many of the fics on the list.

This chapter is somewhat Sam-centric and I'm skating a bit of a line - but after this there will be mostly turtles. I'm a touch worried about it, so reviews good or bad will be taken on board. After all, I can change stuff if need be. Enjoy!

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

I was beginning to relax. I hadn't had any visits from irate turtles demanding to know why I'd been getting chased by Purple Dragons and that had to be a good sign. Two days had passed and I was convinced if they _had_ realised it was me in that car, at least one of them would have paid me a visit. Probably Raph, who's not exactly known for his even temper. It had been a close call, but I thought I'd gotten away with it.

I was doing some weights, lying on the bench and using the barbell, not thinking about much. My torso was covered in colourful bruises, thanks to the Dragons, but at least the skin on my knuckles was beginning to heal up. And bruising fades. I was lucky it hadn't been worse. . .

A green face appeared above me.

"GAH!" I almost dropped the barbell, I was so startled. "Blue! Don't sneak up on me!"

"Sorry," he said, taking the barbell from me. "You should have a spotter if you're gonna weightlift."

"I know, I know." I sat up and realised Leo was giving me a funny look. "What?"

"What happened to you?"

I glanced down and grimaced. I was wearing only a wifebeater and sweatpants and the marks from my encounter with the Dragons were clearly visible. "Uh. . .I got into a fight in a bar coupla days ago."

Leo frowned. "Must have been some fight."

"It was." I grabbed the shirt I'd discarded on the sofa and pulled it on. "What have you been up to?"

"Meh, the usual." His face became serious and my heart sank. Uh-oh. Maybe he _did_ know something after all.

"Is something up?"

"You were pretty rude to Master Splinter."

This was the last thing I'd expected. "Huh?"

"At April's place. You nearly broke your neck getting out of there."

"Oh, that." I went over to the fridge and grabbed a soda, stalling for time. "It was just a bit of a shock, ya know? Not every day ya walk into an apartment and find a giant rat making conversation."

"But four giant turtles doesn't bother you?"

"I had a lot more time to get used to that. First time I saw you guys, I had a freakin heart attack. Want a soda?"

"Sure."

I grabbed another soda and turned to give it him, only to realise he was giving me a mildly amused look. I sighed. "Look, I don't like rats, OK?"

"Phobic?"

"No! Well, not really. Ya sleep in some of the places I slept in, ya chase away a lot of rats and ya never get used to it. I've had 'em run over me while I slept, try stealin food from out of my hands, stuff like that. Learned to hate the little bas - uh, critters. I saw a big rat, I freaked."

Leo nodded. "I wish I'd known. I'd have given you some warning."

"S'OK." I opened the soda and took a swig. "I'll get used to it. Hell, I'm already getting used to it. The next time I see him, I promise not to run off, OK?"

"OK." He opened his own soda and tok a drink. "I had another reason for coming over. Casey got a new DVD and he's bringing it to our place tomorrow night. Wanna come?"

"Sure," I replied. "Why not tonight?"

Leo grinned. "It's his and April's anniversary."

"Ah, and April doesn't think watching 'Return of the Son of the Ninja part 2: The Sequel' isn't romantic?"

"Got it in one. Although it's more of a slasher movie."

"Psycho in a hockey mask? Why does that sound like Casey's kinda film?"

"We'll pick you up in the Battleshell about 7," said Leo, heading for the window and the fire escape. "Master Splinter said it was OK to let you have access to the lair."

I sniggered in embarrassment before my brain caught up with what he said. "Wait, lair?"

"Yup. See you then." Leo jumped out of the window and was gone before I could ask him to elaborate.

All that night I was trying to think what type of place they lived in - it wasn't like Splinter could go house hunting. It ocurred to me that none of them had ever mentioned much about where they lived. Still, I figured no matter how bad it was, I could get used to it. Most likely it was an abandoned building or similar and I've slept in plenty of those.

Work the next day was same old, same old. Another car to be checked or repaired. More customers yelling that they _needed_ that car, _right away_, while we tried to explain that some things take time. We stay open until 6 and it was pretty dark by the time I'd finished for the day. I grabbed my jacket and waved to the others as they headed off. My boss waited while I procrastinated a little so he could lock up after me. I didn't want to talk to the others about what I was doing that night, so I hung around whie they broke their necks to get away.

There was a car on the forecourt when we exited and my boss sighed. "Always someone who doesn't read the damn closed sign," he grumbled, going up to the car and rapping on the window. "Hey buddy! We're closed!"

I peered over his shoulder. "No one in it. Maybe they just parked up here to go to the shops or something."

"Damn! I hate it when people do that!" The boss kicked the wheel of the car and stormed off. I followed more slowly, glancing back at the car. It was a total heap, even worse than my wheels. I suspected it might have been ditched. . .

The car chose that moment to explode.

One moment I was walking away, looking back over my shoulder. The next a rush of heat hit me and I was pushed, leaving my feet and hitting the road hard. Stunned, I lifted my head and stared in surprise at the merrily burning skeleton of the car. But my vision swam and I groaned, putting my head back down and hoping no cars decided to pull over and hit me. Distantly, I could hear the boss cursing and yelling and I was pleased he wasn't hurt, less pleased that he was checking on his property before me.

I heard a screech of brakes and realised a car had pulled up beside me. I heard the door open and thought someone had come to help me, although my head was clearing by then and a quick mental check told me I wasn't seriously hurt, just stunned. Someone took me by the arm and gripped tightly - too tightly. I opened my eyes and looked up at the person holding me.

Dragon Face.

_Shit!_

He yanked me up and another Dragon grabbed me by the other arm. I was still too dazed to struggle much and they bundled me into the car with no problem. There were two more Dragons there, one driving and one in the passenger seat, a Dragon to either side of me. My ears were still ringing, there was smoke in my throat and I couldn't stop coughing. Dragon Face slammed me on the back a couple of times, grinning maniacally.

"Don't want ya dying on us!" he said in a voice filled with false cheer. "We got a few _questions_ for ya - Sammy."

"So ya know who I am," I said, managing to stop the choking. "Took ya long enough to realise."

"Don't be like that," replied Dragon Face, faking hurt feelings. "Been a long time. How've ya been? Made any new friends? Guardians, perhaps?"

"That's what all this is about?" I gave Dragon Face a look of total scorn. "I have no idea where that guy is. I helped him out once. That doesn't mean I got his number on speed dial."

"Speaking of. . ." Dragon Face nodded at the Dragon at the other side of me. The guy began going through my pockets, checking for a cell, but came up empty. I guess I lost it when I got thrown away from the car.

"Nothin."

"Guess we can't check for his number then." Dragon Face smirked at me and shrugged. "Oh well. Took us long enough to find out where ya worked, get ya attention. We owe ya some payback anyway. By the time I'm done, you'll be begging to tell me what you know. We'll find out all about the Guardian, and ya little green pals. And I'll make ya pay for what happened to my hand."

I'd been taking stock of the car. Central locking, not good. To get out, someone would have to activate the release from the drivers seat and I didn't want to wait until we got where we were going. By then I could have been worked over already and there would be even more Dragons to cope with. There was only the one choice and I had to hope I could pull it off.

I drove both hands upwards at the same time, hitting Dragon Face and the other Dragon on the chin. As soon as the blows connected I threw myself forward, diving between the seats and driving my fist into the passenger Dragons crotch. He whined with pain and doubled over. I felt some one grab my ankle and kicked backwards, connecting with someone and shaking my foot free, landing practically head-first in the drivers lap. Desperately, I grabbed for the lock, almost deafened as he yelled in my ear, and managed to pull the release.

"Stop him, ya fuckin moron!" Dragon Face was yelling and I caught a glimpse of him, his face a mask of rage. The car swerved into wrong lane and although I could hear the blaring of horns as the other cars were forced to move out of the way in a hurry, a possible crash was the last thing on my mind. I yanked on the handle, trying to ignore the blows that the driver was landing on me. The door opened wide and I kicked off the floor, trying to get out. But I was still half-sat on the driver and he wasn't wearing a seatbelt and I accidentallly shoved him out before me. We fell out of a car that was still doing some speed, me landing on him and saving myself from injury there, although I wouldn't do it again - I missed getting hurt in the initial fall but we rolled and I shredded my jeans and jacket on the asphalt, leaving behind several yards of skin. The car kept going, without the benefit of a driver. I saw some activity through the back window as it sailed away from us, drifting further to the side of the road. It didn't concern me though, not with the new pains shooting through my body.

We came to a stop several yards away from the point where we fell out of the car. This time, I didn't have the chance to stop and take a breather. The driver seemed out of it, but I'd lay money that as soon as Dragon Face and his goons got the car stoped, they'd be after me and madder than hell. I dragged myself to my feet and glanced up at the oncoming traffic, fortunately distracted by the car in their lane going the wrong way and already going slowly enough not to hit me. They all hit their horns though - damn New York traffic. I limped to the side of the road, ignored the exclaimations of the people who'd been watching the whole thing and hurried as best as I could away. There wasn't just the Purple Dragons to think of - I'd lay even money that someone had called the cops. I needed to get the hell away.

There are some things you never forget from time as a street kid and the art of making myself scarce was one of them. Hurry away, don't make eye contact, stick to the quiet streets as much as possible. If you look like shit, try to stay in the shadows and find somewhere to clean up as soon as possible. I couldn't face stopping anywhere though. I'd been running on adrenaline ever since my attack on the Dragons in the car and when that drained away, I was dog-tired. My skin felt itchy and hot all over, where I got singed from the explosion. There was no skin left on either knee where the road had shredded away my jeans. My right elbow had suffered the same fate and I knew I had at least one similar cut on my face. To top it all off, there were so many bruises on my torso that I probably looked like I'd gone ten rounds with the heavyweight champ. For all I'd been through in that short time, the wounds were surprisingly superficial, but in spite of that, I felt _wrong_. My head was pounding, my vision kept going fuzzy and my thoughts were random and distracted. The adrenaline rush I'd been running off since the Dragons snatched me was wearing off rapidly and every step was an effort. I was so _tired_. I just wanted to find a bench somewhere and lie down for a while. Hell, the floor would do. But I had to go. . .

It occurred to me that I had no idea _where_ I was going. I'd been so focused on putting as much distance between myself and the Dragons that I'd just been dragging myself in some random direction. I paused, leaning against a wall and willing myself not to slide down it and sit for a while. I knew where I was and the quickest way home - but was it safe to go back to my apartment or was it being staked out by the Dragons? In the end I decided that if the Dragons knew where I lived, they would have hit me there. Hell, if they waited a few days they might have been able to follow me and find out, but obviously this Guardian was too important for them to wait, they needed to risk the distraction of the exploding car and grabbing me off the street. Besides, I couldn't think of anywhere else to go and I needed to crawl into bed and sleep for about a month. It wasn't like I'd be expected in work any time soon.

Shoving myself away from the wall and almost stumbling as I did so, I slowly dragged my sorry, beaten carcass toward my apartment. I kept having to look behind me, make sure no one was following me. I didn't see anyone but then again, if there had been anyone to see I might not have noticed. I was in terrible shape.

Finally, I got to my own block. It was full dark, seemingly hours since I finished work although I couldn't tell for sure - I'd smashed my watch somewhere along the line and I'd lost all sense of time. But I was reaching the end of my stamina and stopped as the building came into sight, putting my arm against a wall to steady myself. Like I said, there are some habits you never forget and one of those is that after being involved in something major, watch out for the police. I hadn't done anything wrong that night, but I really didn't feel like explaining myself. I'd left the scene after all, even if it wasn't by choice. . .

"Sam!"

A hand fell on my shoulder as the voice spoke and I started, turning around too quickly. A wave of dizziness hit me and I lost my balance and hit the floor. Great. Just great. I squinted up, wondering if the Dragons had known where I lived all along.

"Hey, you OK?"

Not the Dragons. Leo.

"Yeah, fine Blue," I said, realising my voice was slurred slightly.

"Come on, you can't stay lying there." Leo was in street dress, pretty well disguised. He managed to get me to my feet and I forced myself to stand under my own power, my eyes wanting to close. I was so tired. . .

"It's me," said Leo and I realised he was talking into the shell-cell. "Found him. Don't know, didn't say. Bring the Battleshell back here." He terminated the call and put the cell away. "What the hell happened to you? We heard someone bombed the garage, it's been all over the news and then you show up hours late looking like this!"

"S'long story," I said, knowing I had to be careful and yet not clear headed enough to think of a convincing lie.

"Who. Did. It."

The forcefulness of that voice drove through the fog in my head. I blinked, trying to bring him into focus. "Drag'ns."

_"Dragons?_" Leo grabbed the top of my arm and pulled me into the alley between two apartment blocks. "Sam, what the hell have you got into?"

"Noth'n. . ." I leaned against the building and wished I could clear my head, or failing that, my vision. I kept seeing two of him. "Guess they found out w's back 'n wh're I w'rk."

"What happened?"

Before I could gather my thoughts, I heard the engine of the Battleshell turning the corner at speed and Leo ducked out of the alley to flag it down. I heard it stop and a moment later, Leo returned with an undisguised Donnie in tow.

"Hmmm. . ." Don pulled up one of my eyelids and looked into the pupil. "I suspect a concussion. Looks like there's a pretty good contusion on the side of his head. I won't know for sure until I can look at it properly though."

I put my hand to the side of my head and winced. With all the other injuries and my head being so fuzzy, I hadn't even noticed the side of my head was cut and bloodied. But as soon as Don pointed it out, that was when it began to hurt.

"We'll go back to the lair,"said Leo. "We can't risk another confrontation with him in this condition."

Don raised an eyeridge at his brother as they escorted me over to the Battleshell and helped me into the passenger seat. "Confrontation? What's been going on?"

"I don't know,"replied Leo, giving me a stern look. "But I intend to find out."

I lay back in the seat and closed my eyes, pretty much ignoring what was going on around me, although I heard the others climb into the Battleshell and Don start the engine while Leo made a couple of quick calls to Mike and Raph, telling them to meet us back at the lair, where ever that was. I was grateful just to be resting and my welfare in the hands of someone else. In spite of that, I was worried. Much as it was hard to think about anything right then, it was obvious that at some point I was going to have to come up with answers, answers I didn't want to give. Once again, I was being bailed out by the turtles and it irked me. All I'd wanted was to strike at the Dragons, hit them where they lived by thwarting some of their plans and maybe make some of them think twice about the life they were leading. And instead I was in over my head - again - involved with strange ninja Guardians, ambushes, kidnap plots, explosions, who knew what else.

And somehow, I was going to have to explain all this to Blue, after I promised that I wasn't gonna try anything against the Dragons.


	4. Chapter 4

**Author Note: **Oh boy, do I love the lovely readers! 'Blue' WON the 'best action/ adventure' fanfiction awards! I was so excited, I literally screamed. It also came second in 'best Leonardo scene' and third for 'best moral' and tied in third for 'best OC'. I wanna give huge thanks and hugs to everyone who voted for 'Blue' - it meant a helluva lot to me to place at all, let alone win!

Apologies for the lateness of this chapter - I had real problems thinking of where it was going. I owe HUGE thanks to Olafur - again! - for his help, ideas and letting me know I was on the right track.

This chapter is important to the fic, but short on action. Trust me, the next one is filled with fights!

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

The 'lair' that Leo had mentioned was underground, not in an abandoned building as I had suspected. We drove into a warehouse that looked abandoned from the outside and parked up the Battleshell. Leo got out to check on me as I exited - I really didn't wanna move, I'd just gotten comfy and I was feeling kinda sleepy too - while Donnie messed about just out of my sight. I could hear a muted hum and an elevator rose from the floor, covered in strange symbols and glowing weirdly.

I frowned at it. "Is that thing safe?"

"We use it all the time. Never crashed yet." Leo ushered me into the elevator and I almost lost my cookies as it descended. I'm not normally bothered by such things, but it'd been a _very_ long day.

I examined the strange carvings. "Don, why the marks? Is it Zen or something?"

He laughed. "I didn't make the elevator. We discovered it. Turns out the lair and the elevator and a whole underground city was made by an ancient race called. . ." He stopped as he saw me struggling to follow what he said. "I'll explain it later. Let's get you patched up first."

"And you can tell us what happened tonight," added Leo.

"Right," I muttered. I certainly wasn't looking forward to _that_.

The elevator doors opened and I glanced around in confusion. "Is this a sewer? This place is _huge_!"

"We'll give you the guided tour later. Let's look at that head injury first." Don ushered me over to the couch and I sat down while he peered at the wound, flashed a penlight torch into my eyes and generally made me feel like an extra in an episode of 'weirdest ER moments' or something.

"It's not as bad as I thought it was," he said eventually. "Head wounds bleed a lot and you're proably in shock too."

"I am not!"

"Anyone would be, after cars and Dragons and whatever else happened." Don sounded absent as he turned to Leo. "Can you grab me something to clean it up with? And sutres too. It'll take a couple of stitches."

"I can clean it up," I said grumpily.

"You're a worse patient than Raph!" A new voice from nearby and a moment later Mikey walked into view. "Dude! You look like someone kicked the _shell_ outta you!"

"Ya know, ya could lie," I said. Leo returned with some lukewarm water for my head and Don began cleaning blood from off my head. I winced and jerked away. "I can do it."

"You can't see it in a mirror, it's too far back. And you can hardly stand."

That muted humming again - the elevator was back. I tried to keep my head still so that Donnie could sort out the wound but that didn't mean I had to like it. I hated the feeling of incapability that came with someone else patching up my injuries. It took me back to the hospital where I had spent time after being shot, unable to leave, have a say in my own fate, dependant on others. It made me sullen and uneasy and my mood wasn't helped by knowing I still had to come up with an explaination for the nights events. And I was beginning to get angry too.Now the initial pain and stress was wearing off, I was eager to get back on my feet and go out looking for some payback. Not wise perhaps, but it was just how I felt.

"What happened to you?" I heard Raph's voice in the background, sounding both concerned and angry.

"Ah, we're never gonna get to watch the movie now!" Casey, who else.

Raph wandered into my line of sight and gave my injuries a look. "What the hell happened?"

"I think that is what we would all like to know."

I sat up in a hurry, knocking Don's hand away. Splinter was approaching, tapping his walking stick as he made his way across the floor. I fought down my revulsion and managed an innocent smile.

"Sensei's got a point." Leo gave me a look almost as stern as Splinter's. "What happened."

"Uh. . . " I glanced around at the expectant faces of the people I called friends and wondered how much of a lie I could get away with. I _really_ didn't want to admit I screwed up - again. "I was heading home from a bar a week or so ago and I heard this noise, like a fight. I was kinda worried so I went to check it out and there were all these Dragons fighting this one guy. Hun was there too. I mean, twenty against one, I couldn't just leave the guy to it right? So I jumped in to help. I knocked down a few Dragons and the two of us got rid of the Hun - "

"Just the two of you?" Raph didn't look like he believed me.

"Well, the guy had this glowy thing, like a light sabre, paked a helluva punch and he was a real good fighter too - what? What'd I say?"

The Turtles, Splinter and Casey were exchanging surprised looks that suggested they knew more about the Guardian than I did. Leo frowned thoughtfully. "Did he say anything to you?"

"Well, yeah. Thanks for the assiss. Said he was a Guardian, that the people he was guarding weren't in the city but he had an eye out for someone. Then he kinda - vanished. Damn ninjas. You got any idea of how annoying that is?"

"We've been told that," replied Mikey.

"So you ran into the Guardian," said Leo. "Where does the explosion fit into this?"

"Uh. . . I guess the Dragons weren't too happy about me helping him. One of them must have recognised me, maybe even Hun. I don't kow if they followed me or something, but they must have found out where I worked because this evening I finished work and there was a strange car on the lot - it was even more of a wreck than mine if ya can believe that. And it blew up and Dragon Face grabbed me while I was woozy. But I got away."

There was silence and I hoped against hope that I had got away with it, that there were going to be no more awkward questions. After all, I hadn't _lied_ exactly. I'd just kind of - edited what had happened a little.

Had I really hoped it would be that easy?

"You were on Dragon turf?"

I glanced over at Raph, irritated. "Yeah, so?"

"Ya had to know it was their turf."

"It's been a long time, OK? And I was kinda drunk too. It was the fastest way home and I took it."

"And ya never went by that way before?"

"Why would I?"

Splinter stepped forward and stared at me, his gaze probing and unwavering. I wanted to look down or tell him it was rude to stare, but I didn't want to look like I had something to hide. On the other hand, I wasn't much of a liar. I always overacted, looking _too_ innocent.

"Young man, you are not telling us the whole truth."

I widened my eyes and tried to look offended. The expression was met with stony glares and after a few seconds I gave up and sighed. "Well, uh, maybe I have been onto Dragon turf a time or two. Just, uh. Y'know. Uh, keeping an eye on things?"

"I knew it!" Mikey pointed at me theatrically. "You're the guy they've been talking about! The new vigilante, it was you!"

"I wouldn't call myself a vigilante exactly. . ."

"Carrying on the tradition!" Casey grabbed my head and ruffled my hair roughly, completely forgetting my probable concussion.

Leo glared at him and Casey let me go, rubbing the back of his neck and looking upwards. "Uh, I mean, that's really dumb Sam!"

"You said you weren't going to go after them," Leo reminded me. "You could have been hurt a lot worse than this!"

"You guys do the same thing, all the time," I pointed out. "I knew you were gonna act like this, that's why I didn't say anything before!"

"That's different," said Leo.

"How?"

"We've been trained in ninjitsu, we've been doing this for years and there are four of us so we can watch each others backs. You're out there on your own, looking for fights just to settle an old score."

"That's not what I'm doing!" I scowled, trying to think how to explain. "Well, maybe just a little. but I wanted to make up for what I did when I was a Dragon. I thought if I could scare some of them of or get the Dragons locked up or something, it'd put the kids off joining them and maybe the Dragons would just - fall apart."

"We've been doing that for years and the Dragons are still going strong," pointed out Donnie. "It's not that simple."

"I didn't expect it to be simple," I replied. "I just didn't want to let things drop, I wanted to do _somethin_ to try to stop the Dragons. Is that so bad?"

Mike shook his head. "Look dude, we know you're trying to do the right thing, but look at you! Think the Dragons are gonna stop here? Think again. And there are loads of them. You can't take them all on."

"Not that I'd ever agree with him, but he's got a point," said Raph. "Ya could have a normal life, why ya wanna be out chasing those thugs?"

Splinter held up a hand, silencing Raph immediately. "Sam can make up his own mind. He does what he feels he must."

Leo stared, surprised. "But Master Splinter. . ."

"You are certainly not the ones who should be lecturing him on why he should not fight. I do not approve - but it is not our place to judge."

I had to wonder if this sudden interjection by Splinter was another trick, a way to make me relax before he hit back with the ultimate argument - but that seemed to be that.

It was obvious that Leo wanted to argue further, but he refrained. "So, did Dragon Face tell you why he grabbed you?"

"Actually, yeah." I thought back to being in the car, tried to remember what exactly had been said. "He seemed to think I might know where the Guardian was hiding out, like maybe I could lead the Dragons to him. But I don't know anything. I only saw him that one time."

"And the explosion at the garage? That was the first time they tried to grab you, right?"

"Well . . . maybe the second."

"So they're really serious about this." Leo scowled and I just knew he was furious with me. That made me feel kinda guilty. "You do know you're not safe in New York now?"

"I ain't leaving. Not this time." I knew that I was about to hear a ton of crap about why I should and sought to change the subject in a hurry. "So when did _you _guys meet the Guardian? I mention him, ya look like ya seen a ghost."

"We thought they were all long gone," said Donnie. ""We ran into them a few years ago. Enemies of the Foot, we allied ourselves with them for a short time. But why would any of them still be in the city after all this time?"

"Probably to keep an eye on Shredder, make sure he doesn't get his hands on any of the technology he needs to build a transmat," replied Leo.

Raph scowled. "But the Foot know he's in the city."

"Maybe they think he has some of that Utrom technology," mused Don. "It'd make sense, he'd have to get in touch with the Utroms if something went bad."

"But - how would Shredder _find_ the technology?" Mikey looked mildly confused by the whole thing. "He was using the Sword of Tengu, right? And we trashed it when we fried the tech at Foot HQ."

"That's probably why they tried to grab the Guardian," said Leo.

"We'd better hope he _hasn't_ found a way to track the Utrom tech," said Don, glancing around the lair. "Because most of what remains on Earth is down here with us."

"Cheery thought Don," grumbled Raph.

There was a pause and I took the chance to speak. "Anywhere I can get cleaned up?"

"Oh yeah, over that way," said Mikey, gesturing.

I got up slowly, wincing. Now the adrenaline was worn off and I'd been sitting still for a while, the various bruises, cuts and knocks I'd taken that night were complaining seriously. What I really wanted to do was stand under a shower for about a week, but I'd settle for cleaning up the blood and grime and maybe that would help me feel a bit more human.

"Wen I'm done, I wanna know more about this Guardian," I said, hobbling away. "Ya obviously know more than I do and I _hate_ being in the Goddamn dark."

An hour or so later, I was cleaned up to a respectable level, although there wasn't much I could do about the shredded clothes, thinking over some insane story about ancient aliens, magic swords and other worlds while the turtles and Casey argued about something - I wasn't listening. Occasionally I gave Splinter a surrupticious look but he wasn't going anywhere (or getting any closer to me, which was what I was most concerned about) or joining into the argument, just sitting in a chair with his walking stick over his knees, eyes closed. I doubted he was asleep though. Closed eyes or no, he had an air of alertness about him.

Just how much was I supposed to believe of their crazy story? The logical part of me wanted to dismiss the whole story - but then again, I was sat in a sewer with four talking turtles and an oversized rat. And how much of it was true with regard to the aliens wasn't important. It was the Guardian that concerned me now, and how the hell I was gonna get out of the latest mess I'd gotten myself into.

". . .Here tonight?"

Realising I'd completelly missed the last ten minutes of the conversation, I refocused and realised Leo was looking at me. "Uh, what?"

"I said, maybe you should think about staying here tonight. . ."

"_Here_?" I tried to jump to my feet, moved too fast and had to slump back in the seat as my head swam again. That wasn't going to fill anyone with confidence over my health I thought, but the rueful thought was swallowed by rising alarm. _Visiting_ the sewer, fine, I could live with that for a few hours when there was gonna be a DVD and I could leave whenever I wanted. But to try to _sleep_ there - no way, not down there. I didn't care how well protected the place was, I couldn't stay down there with the damn rats, including the giant Zen one who had opened an eye and was watching me with an inscrutible look.

"I can't stay _here_," I said, trying to think of something to say before I got myself into more trouble when Leo realised the main problem with staying there. "I'm uh, I'm clutzy-phobic."

"Better stay away from Casey then," said Raph.

Don smirked. "You mean _claustrophobic_, doofus. And in case you hadn't noticed, this place is beigger than your whole apartment."

"There aren't _entire buildings_ built on top of my apartment," I said, managing to unsettle myself with that thought. "I'll just go back there. The Dragons won't know where I live."

Leo shook his head. "We can't risk it."

"Hey!" Casey looked like he'd just invented the lightbulb or something. "Ya can stay at my place!"

"Case, I haven't been to a sleepover since I was eight and I don't plan on doing it again."

I was being ignored. Casey was too full of his brillaint plan. "And we can watch the DVD! It'll be great!"

"Then it's settled," said Leo. "Sam can stay with you."

"Hello! Is anyone listening to me! No sleepovers!"

Leo crossed his arms and frowned. "Don, you go with them. Just to keep an eye on Sam, make sure his injuries don't get any worse."

"Fine," said Donnie, getting to his feet. "Come on you two. We'll take the Battleshell."

"Later guys!" Casey waved casually at the others before grabbing my arm and yanking me to my feet, forgetting again about my health. "Will ya stop _whining_ Sam? It'll be a blast!"

"Yeah, like an A-bomb," I muttered, trailing after them.

"We'll be over later," said Leo. "Maybe we'll have come up with a plan by then. Not that we can do much of anything until Sam recovers."

I stopped. "You're gonna let me help?"

"You already managed to get involved," replied Leo, souding annoyed. "If the Dragons are after you, you can't exactly _not_ help."

"Uh, yeah, I guess."

"Come _on_ Sam!" Casey was stood by the elevator, looking impatient. "I'm gonna watch this movie tonight if it kills me!"

I rolled my eyes and managed a smile. "Later guys. Later Splinter."

There was a chorus of farewells and Leo added, "Try not to get into any more trouble tonight."

Oh yeah, he was pissed at me all right.


End file.
